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That could be the Ramones, or Hogarth, or Yevtushenko - who, incidentally," he added, "really loves John's work. Cooper Clarke's Salford vowel sounds remain untarnished by two decades in the South East. Otherwise they would have been opening for me. Prison had become like a never-ending party. 'Haiku #1' I call it: 'To convey one's mood / In seventeen syllables / Is very diffic.'". djkeos Zip Style Method Zero: A Martin Hannett Story 1977-1991 North by North West Me and My Big Mouth Disguise in Love The Very Best Of New Wave Post Punk: 1977-1981 John's in the Money (Evidently John Cooper Clarke, Vol. To take one of my more popular poems, Beasley Street: I worked my way back on that one. "The hotel roof is decided on," Thomas wrote, "but the parcel needs a warning message. "The haiku," he tells Shepherd's Bush, "is a three line discipline perfected in the 17th century in Japan by a poet called Matsuo Basho. If you had any sense you wouldnt look to me for any life lessons. You helped the Fall in the early days, letting them rehearse in your house, and you were a lifelong friend of the other Bard of Salford, Mark E Smith. Have you ever seen Our Cartoon President? "It's hard to convey the aggression of those audiences." The Kray family had a bolthole there. the very best of john cooper clarke - cd. Dr John Cooper Clarke at the Firestation Arts Centre 21/06/17, Treasure in the History of Things by Katherine McMahon, Review: John Cooper Clarke w/ Mike Garry and Salena Godden Apple & Snakes 30th Anniversary 01/12/12. Dont ever do it. Look whos played there: Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, you name them. Now that he's enjoying his unforeseen Indian summer, I ask the poet, what can he find to trouble him? "Please," he asked the audience at Shepherds Bush, "if you ever see me in a vegetative state - drooling and incontinent, having to be reminded of my own name - just leave me in peace. 'Oh, you poor thing, I'll put your electric blanket on. A much underrated garment, the jegging: they never need ironing and they hold their colour. That judgmental 'V', hanging over romantic proceedings like the Damoclean sword of justice, rendering enjoyable sex utterly impossible. Around this time, he performed on stage with several punk and post-punk bands and continues to perform regularly. But since then, now I dont get a bad time from hecklers, and invariably enjoy the love of the poetry-reading public, it has become a much more relaxed affair. He really does look more and more like Max Wall as he gets older. In October of 1981 Clarke appeared in episode 2 of series 3 of The Innes Book of Records (TV series), reciting "Evidently Chickentown". "I didn't find out they'd chosen it," Cooper Clarke says, "until after they'd made it. drew1992 Yes. "I always assumed she must have had it first, being older. Four years ago, I remind the poet, we were shivering in driving rain on the seafront in Brighton, just after midnight. Those English periods were a happy time. John Cooper Clarke has, arguably, not only the most recognisable silhouette in show business, but also the most infectious of poetic voices. Its a one-poet show by Luke Wright, capturing a heady mix, -Collated by Claire Trvien Its that time of year again, where end of year lists sprout across the internet, tilting, reviewed by David Mitchell Punk poetry, fifty years on It is fifty years since the summer of love. John Cooper Clarke is touring now. I cant take the credit for anyone emulating my style everybody copies somebody. [23] He has appeared as a guest on the comedy panel show Would I Lie To You? I had friends but they were out indulging in robust pursuits, which I was excluded from because I had to stay indoors. In 1988, he made an appearance in two UK adverts for Sugar Puffs, taking second billing to the Honey Monster. ", I remember John Humphreys on Celebrity Mastermind, earlier this year, beginning to tease Cooper Clarke by asking him what the difference was between 'performance' poetry and [by implication], 'proper' poetry. "You and John Lennon. For details and tickets visit johncooperclarke.com, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. "My doctor told me. "), He has always been a gifted mimic and, having been in Essex for so long, has perfected the local accent. It would be wrong to dismiss John Cooper Clarke as nothing more than a nave creator of knockabout rhyme. Stereo, my ass. ", His fragile frame is the result not, as some assume, of his years as a heroin addict, which are long behind him, but a legacy of the TB he suffered as a child. But that is really the way I do it, keeping that dream alive. Queues round the block, as you can imagine. ", That last word, Costello says, "was rendered hilarious by his voice in a way which is just impossible to replicate in print. Now, he makes sure that he arrives at any venue two hours early. It is fair to say we were not on expansive speaking terms. I hope so. "The bottles were bad. He had Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Sinatra obviously the great American songbook. She was exemplary. DJ JetSet - Fifty minutes of Marko Frstenberg (th How Psychedelic Drugs Can Help Patients Face Death. Barry Evans and his young friends were all mods in a mod town. Chicken Town E John Cooper Clarke 3. John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a " punk poet" in the late 1970s. A live performance of the same poem appears in the film Control, with Clarke portraying himself in a re-creation of a 1977 concert in which he supported Joy Division, despite being 30 years older than the events depicted in the film. I figured I had to sign somebody." He closed the show at Shepherds Bush with his signature piece, 'Evidently Chickentown'. What was the first song or poem you remember learning the words to?Thats a good question, Michael, because that is exactly how I did get introduced to poetry at school, Michael Gove-style. The way poetry works is this: you learn the sound of the words first. He's developed a routine in which he describes being invited to perform at the Bulimic Society's New Year's Eve Party, in Kensington. Back then there was only me and him doing poetry on stage, so we cranked it up a gear, not least because our audiences often had no prior interest in poetry. It wasnt easy: it is an unnatural act to get out there and draw that much attention to yourself. Some are held together by staples because the linings falling out, but you see them in photoshoots and they still look the business. But not me. When I moved to Essex, among the first things everyone said was Dont ever go to Jaywick, its a toilet. They were never out of the dry cleaners Id only wear them to weddings, funerals and gigs, and Ive still got them now. How long, I'd asked him, had he known this by heart? You wouldnt have known she was there. Apart from the one collection [Ten Years in An Open-Necked Shirt, which originally appeared in 1981, superbly illustrated by Steve Maguire] he has never been published. There were events hosted by beat poets at the Royal Albert Hall in the Sixties, but they were ensemble shows and they didn't always sell out. They have one daughter, Stella. They have one child. He is often referred to as a punk poet, having initially achieved recognition in the late 1970s amidst the flourishing punk movement. "All I can say is that I love what I do now. Because John has extraordinary talent and he has lived a life of frightening extremes. Fool." I didnt understand those lyrics, but they gave me an idea of an adult world. And I am very lucky to be here really. But then things started to buck up. Poet; Movie star; Rock star; TV & radio presenter; Comedian; Social & cultural commentator. Publicity Listings Official Sites. His will was proved on 25 Feb 1683/84. The third punter - Jewish guy - hands over his fiver and says, 'paint my house. This includes lines like "I've got amnesia and dj vu at the same time. He had it all. To make the hips the focal point of a pair of trousers is, to me, a fashion mistake. He was previously married to ?. "I was ill all the time as a boy," he says. The only stereo I like is a jukebox: two speakers but both on the same piece of furniture. Clarke has lived for the past 25 years in Colchester, Essex. One of the more fortunate breaks in his poetic career, he suggests, was that he looked like a punk before punk rock arrived. It was a mistake in the 60s and it doesnt look any better on some fat fuck in Shoreditch now. "I don't want that again. rycu I loved it, man, I loved it. All rights reserved. Trains coming down the middle of the road. 'BEYOND THE Sidi Tour with Yehiya Arby - Artiatanat. The fury of the crowds really was quite alarming at that time. The first guy goes in, 'screw me stupid.' Pink first, then yellow. His wisest recourse at such moments is to start talking. It can be done, clearly, but it aint easy. Why? My answer back then would be, as they say, to be hopped up on goof balls. But if you ask me, I do think the free movement of working people has impacted badly on the poorest members of our society, which is bad for both the immigrant workers and bad for our workers, because it has driven down wages and conditions. And it's not that bad.". [6] He began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets. Your germs are splattered about. You get out of bed late in the day and nobody calls you a lazy bastard. ", His father worked at Trafford Park, the biggest industrial estate in Europe. 'Move to another country, you sick, dripping, filthy, home-wrecking little bitch. There are many subjects he does not enjoy broaching on the record, and heroin is chief among them. John Cooper Clarke SUB89 22.06.12 Lydia The Girl With the Itch through to Rotten Here In Gaol AboutPressCopyrightContact usCreatorsAdvertiseDevelopersTermsPrivacyPolicy & SafetyHow. To enjoy a renaissance, Cooper Clarke concedes, you must have been dead for a period. Every style of English suburban house is represented there, but all at two-thirds scale. I'd love to get it published. Anything can kick you off. this time it's personal cd. What a fabulous band.". mac_abre I'd seen her not long before. Surely theres some dead bloke? A fan of the show for 60 years, he described it as having "all the finality of a suicide note, without the actual obligation of topping yourself". "Remember that poem you wrote about Lowry?" Mr_Jones A screen projector showing him in close up would have helped a lot-for those of us in the gallery he was a bit of a speck in the distance. I'd have been killed not by hostility but indifference. Shock-haired and irreverent, he's been shaking up the literary establishment with his wry wit and clever couplets for decades. Mention that the Bard of Salford was to visit the Observer office for this interview last week immediately prompted snatches of extemporised quotation from some of Clarkes more famous lyrics I Wanna Be Yours, Evidently Chickentown, I Married a Monster from Outer Space from those colleagues who had some grounding in his snarly Mancunian vowels and those who were not afraid of pretending. Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions 19771979, Greatest Ever: Punk & New Wave: The Definitive Collection, De rouille et d'os (Bande originale du film), Rust and Bone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). When this piece was used in The Sopranos, there was a communal surge of pride among Cooper Clarke's longstanding admirers, at the knowledge that this work by the poet could resonate as powerfully with New Jersey as it does with Moss Side. But mostly it is down to his brilliant rambling dramatic monologue of a stage show, which has become less staccato over the years. Where will it end? "Keats, Baudelaire, Poe," I suggest to Cooper Clarke. Imagine trying to read in the interval for" It is quite hard to convey the venom with which he delivers the next three syllables. "When we walked out, tentacle in hand / You could sense that the earthlings would not understand / They'd go nudge-nudge when we got on the bus / They'd say, 'It's extra-terrestrial, not like us / And it's bad enough with another race / But fuck me. Here [at the Contains Strong Language spoken word festival in 2017] Ive also got a bolo tie, which chimes in with the snakeskin boots by Jeffery West. I could have saved the world a whole lot of heartbreak. ", The definitive poem about drug addiction, Cooper Clarke told me back then, '"is 'The Vampire' by Charles Baudelaire. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, Evie He is a genius,' I think, 'Oh, thank God for that. Sievey, who was sharing the dressing room and about to go onstage, started reciting Cooper Clarke's poem '36 Hours', a gruesome meditation on joblessness, incarceration and death. Privacy-Killing CISPA Bill Passes House I think he moved to the States for a while, but Im not sure the act travelled with him. .and this years most read reviews are. They'd all have been sat in the bar, meditating on their flares." "I was too late. You give me the horrors. If you went to see a band, the Beatles, the Stones, they were up there on the stage; you would naturally expect all the sound to come from their general direction. "From way back. Since he first began performing in Mancunian working men's clubs in the mid-Seventies, he has evolved a unique stage act that is part comedy, part knockabout verse, part rather more moving - serious poetry whose profundity slips by you without you quite noticing. There they are, bulldozing these beautiful villages so someone can get to Manchester quarter of an hour earlier. Wrong on both counts, Jim tee many Martoonies. "Even then, I remember wondering how on earth you'd come to be there." The truth is Im not just a practitioner of poetry when I am on stage I am like the police: never off-duty. Apart from the one collection [Ten Years in An Open . 20.00 gbp. jrn1elvis I begged the poison I abhorred. I had that AIDS once," he adds, as an afterthought. highwaytohell Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Cooper Clarke has lived here for the best part of 25 years with Evie, his Picardy-born wife; the couple have a grown-up daughter, Stella. I was in Salford when I saw that. And then this other life where I am appearing at the Palladium. As an audience member I know what I get from watching you perform. "Who caught it off whom?" He has his set pieces, such as 'Home Honey, I'm High.' It was National Poetry Day. He connects with a young audience precisely because he has never attempted to deny his years. So I came up with this. And, gadus, good luck with your attempts to rid yourself of this terrible affliction. Nick Cohen, our columnist, broke off from columnising to recite extended passages of Clarkes verse first committed to memory when the poet was sharing spittle-flecked stages with Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols back in the day. He rang me one evening, a couple of years ago, and read me the first draft of what evolved into a piece called 'It's Rotten Here in Jail'. The Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters - Jedwabne, Can - Deadly Doris (from The Lost Tapes), Rupert Murdoch admits NoW phone-hacking cover-up. I explained to him the format of this interview. I've got VD.' To approach a poem as if it is a puzzle to be understood is to miss the point. "I did," is all he will say, "all of those things that you have to do. | I may be simple minded. His physique has become an integral part of act. Because it's very unusual that somebody manages to kick it. He was born in Salford, on the north side of Manchester on 25 January, 1949 and has one brother, Paul, 12 years his junior. 2 (liane Reyes). We meet in the Kings Arms, a genteel coaching inn in the main street. I thought very carefully before I embarked on mine," he explains. What do you want to listen to the bass player over your left shoulder for? For that reason, perhaps I am not best placed to objectively gauge the enigmatic appeal of Jon the Postman. His gentleness of manner means that, even at venues in his adopted home county, he can get away with tormenting audiences with their own vowel sounds delivered in an excruciating tone of laryngeal menace that might frighten Ray Winstone. Like a Night Club in the morning, you're the bitter end. And we had to know the whole 12 pages, because on command, at any moment, you might be called on to stand up and recite a particular verse. Often referred to as "the bard of Salford",[9] he usually refers to himself on stage as "Johnny Clarke, the name behind the hairstyle". His recorded output has mainly relied on musical backing from the Invisible Girls, which featured Martin Hannett, Steve Hopkins, Pete Shelley, Bill Nelson, and Paul Burgess. Im obsessed with clothes and I find it very easy to write about them. It goes without saying. But I know by their name that I hate them. Cale, who was 'in his vodka period' was, the poet recalls, 'a lovely guy, but a bit of a handful. Was Nico easy to live with? It was once observed of Alan Bennett that the world invariably becomes an Alan Bennett sketch around him. I tend to live by the dictum less is more, but that mono sound proved more can be more. The 2,000-seat venue, which has hosted entertainers including Bob Dylan and David Bowie, has proved to be a little small for Cooper Clarke. He doesn't care for the musical arrangements, by yet another 'late' associate Martin Hannett, acclaimed producer of, among others, Joy Division. 36acm These are the very reasons for our survival as a species. Do you get some element of therapy from writing and performing your poetry? bluemax This was at Bernard Mannings Embassy Club in Manchester. However, I am interested in what you get out of it. Fire away at me at random, Tim, he said. Thats another thing I have always avoided: peg tops. Give me what youve got.. He and Garry are usually to be found supporting the older star. Yes. Is that a stage name? I never went for the athleisure thing Im not very ath! [12], Clarke released Zip Style Method in 1982, but thereafter performed his live act less frequently, spending much of the 1980s mired in heroin addiction, living in a "domestic partnership" with singer and fellow addict Nico. The Day My Pad Went Mad - Radio 1 Live Version, (I Married a) Monster from Outer Space (Live), I Dont Want to Be Nice (Alternative Take), Limbo (Baby Limbo) (Live [Rafters, Manchester]), Night People (John Peel Session 15th March 1982), Intro and Salome Maloney (Manchester Ritz), (I Married A) Monster from Outer Space (Manchester Ritz), Gaberdine Angus - Live [Rafters, Manchester], The Day My Pad Went Mad (John Peel Session 15th March 1982), Midnight Shift (John Peel Session 15th March 1982), (I Married A) Monster from Outer Space (John Peel Session 3 October 1978), Health Fanatic (John Peel Session 3 October 1978), Mustnt Go Down to the Sea Again (Hulme Playhouse 1983), Spilt Beans (John Peel Session 3 October 1978), Readers Wives (John Peel Session 3 October 1978), Never Seen a Nipple in the Daily Express (Hulme Playhouse 1983), (I Married A) Monster from Outer Space [Live Version], (I Married A) Monster from Outer Space [Bonus Track - Live Version], The Day My Pad Went Mad (Radio Live Version), John's in the Money (Evidently John Cooper Clarke, Vol. Yehiya Arby - Artiatanat world a whole lot of heartbreak you & # x27 ; s personal.. 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